Naruto the Gem Warrior
by JD98
Summary: Reincarnation, a process some believe in, others don't. Well, Naruto never expected to be reincarnated, least of all with his memories of his past life still intact and turned into a soldier in service to a race of sentient space rocks. However, meeting a certain rebellious group among said race convinces him to fight and protect this new world he's found himself in.


Naruto Uzumaki had accomplished much in his life, finally being acknowledged by the people of Konoha after previously being a pariah, becoming Seventh Hokage and last but certainly not least, bringing and maintaining the peace created after the resolution of the Fourth Ninja War. He and Hinata had wed and had Boruto, and Himawari who also went on to have children of their own. On his deathbed after being married for more than seventy years, he passed away peacefully in his sleep, his beloved wife at his side and a content smile that told of his faith in the generations to come. Yet despite his long life, he had never thought of what it was like after death.

Well, he could tell you right now, it was pitch black and searing hot, it felt like he was trapped in a furnace. All the while, there was rumbling all around him as if Deidara had come back to life and was dropping bombs that were missing him. Then it was his turn, in an explosion of dust and rock, the blond was ripped out of his foetal position so that he now stood upright and lurched forward. Tearing through a solid wall that must have been in front of him and into somewhere outside as the stale, hot air was replaced by a fresh, cooler breeze.

The sudden brightness caused him to gasp and look away, blinking rapidly in an attempt to adjust his eyes to the light. As his eyes began losing their blurry vision, he noticed strands of long, very light orange hair that he didn't recognise as his own yet when he gave them a tug, they were clearly connected to his scalp. As he did so, he noticed his hand was tangerine in colour and the kite-shaped, orange gemstone that protruded from the palm of his right hand, 'What the hell is going on?' He thought in shock as he looked around, finding himself in a looming ravine of brown rock with vaguely humanoid holes in an organized manner all around him. Likely they were the courtesy of the rod-shaped machines that still clung to the walls.

"And so, the last one is out," A high-pitched, child-like voice said behind him, the former blond quickly spun around to face yet another bizarre sight. A young girl or at least, what appeared to be a young girl as she was levitating with a small pair of wings that appeared to be made out of water. She had light blue skin, a bowl-cut hairstyle that was a slightly darker hue compared to her skin with a dark blue bow in her hair and a similarly-coloured dress and pumps. Strangely, there seemed to be a teardrop-shaped gemstone stuck to her face just under her left eye, "You've kept us waiting quite a while Jasper Facet-5 Cut-10XO…" She said however she stopped and began squinting as if scanning the blond then flew over to a smoking human-shaped hole, the one that the former ninja presumed he had come out of. When she came out, she started clapping sarcastically, "Congratulations, you're the best off-colour ever produced, don't take that as a compliment," She said succinctly, "Now go join the other Cut-10s." She finished, indicating to her right.

Naruto turned to face the other 'Cut-10s' a large crowd of what he assumed were people with a plethora of different coloured skin, ranging from purple, to green, to blue, to even orange like his own. He noticed something about them, they all had the general build of a human female with some differences between them, namely that some were a lot more muscular, taller and all-around intimidating. All were clad in clothes that either matched or were similar to their skin tone with a colour scheme arranged in such a way that a small diamond shape was created at some point on the body. He looked down and realised that he wore the same type of clothes they did but didn't have the same body shape, rather he was more akin to the body-type he had just after his training with Jiraiya, "Guess that's why they told me I was 'off colour'." Naruto muttered to himself, joining the others, many of whom gave him looks ranging from pity, to intrigue, to disdain, that was certainly something the former jinchuuriki hadn't seen in a long time and it wasn't something he missed.

"Now then, time to begin," The pixie-like girl spoke up, "You are all gems and have been created to serve our great and powerful leaders, the Diamonds, I am the current overseer of this particular Kindergarten, you may call me, Aquamarine. Normally, we would send you off to various locations across the galaxy however, here on Earth, we are dealing with quite a problem. Rebels who wish to tear down everything the Diamonds have done. The Quartzes among you will serve as soldiers on the front lines to engage these rebels in combat, Peridots shall be technicians who will operate and repair our machinery, Lapis Lazulis shall act as terraformers, to make the environment we wish to exploit suitable for our technology. Are there any questions?" Of course, Naruto had several questions for this strange being who called them 'gems' but it seemed that many among the crowd just accepted it, that and this felt awfully similar to tactics employed by a totalitarian regime and if any of his questions made 'Aquamarine' feel like he was stepping out of line there could be serious consequences for him.

"Good," The blue gem continued, "I will now teach the Quartzes how to draw their weapons, first, concentrate on your gem and your weapon shall materialise for the first time." Naruto looked down at his right hand, it seemed odd to do so but nonetheless did so. Surprisingly, the gemstone lit up and two shapes he recognised instantly began to appear and become more tangible, one around the knuckles on his right hand, the other in the palm. They were reminiscent of Asuma's trench knives, holes in them for the fingers to slip through, a jagged outward edge in that area and a slightly curved sharp blade. The main body of them was dark orange with a light orange around the edge.

"Well isn't this pathetic," Aquamarine's voice spoke up, "Some of you are still struggling to get your gems to glow and the off-colour handles it in barely a minute! On top of that two weapons have been produced, it's almost a shame he'll be used as a guard off-planet once the war is won." She continued in a condescending tone, now Naruto wasn't appreciative of the attitude she held towards him and was even ready to stand up to his tiny, self-appointed commander when there was suddenly an explosion from far away behind the group.

Everyone looked towards the source to see black smoke and a raging inferno, from it, four figures emerged. A lithe woman with ivory-coloured skin, peach-coloured hair and a prominent, pointed nose, she carried a spear in her hands. Another with a bizarrely square-shaped afro, maroon skin and a visor that must have been tinted as her eyes couldn't be seen, she was armed with a pair of gauntlets. The tallest and easily the most well-built of the four had grey skin, dreadlocks that were coloured so each lock was a different colour of the rainbow and tattoos on her arms shaped like stars, her hands themselves seemed to be her weapons as they took on the shape of hammers. Finally, the one who stood in the forefront, likely the leader and the one who looked the most human of the group was clad in a white-dress, she had long, pink curls for hair and could easily have towered over most people, she was armed with a pink-coloured shield and sword, each piece carried the symbol of a rose.

"And that would be the rebels I talked about," Aquamarine added disdainfully, "Peridots and Lazulis, retreat. Quartzes, attack, there's only four of them, numbers alone should be more than enough." She ordered, the mentioned gems doing as she said.

The white gem took a step forward until the rainbow-haired one put an arm in front of her, "I'm more than enough to handle these guys, that okay with you Rose?" She asked, the human-like one nodded, causing the questioner to start grinning eagerly, slamming the hammers together in anticipation. The confidence of many Quartz soldiers diminished, seeing as their opponent's bravado made it clear she was an experienced fighter.

The rainbow gem inhaled deeply, "Listen up!" She bellowed, "Because you Quartzes are just out the oven, I'm gonna be nice and give you two options. Number one, you can run away and I won't chase you down. Number two, you can try to fight me but I am going to poof you. So, what's it gonna be?"

It didn't take many of Naruto's fellow Quartzes long to make their decision, most turned tail and ran, "What are you doing!?" Aquamarine shouted, "Get back into position! That's an order!" All of the fleeing gems however, did not heed her words, "Useless the lot of them, they'll be shattered for this!" The blue gem swore.

Only a handful of Quartzes now remained, a mixed bag of Jaspers and Amethysts who had only just been able to call forth their weapon. One of the Jaspers charged at their opponent with a gauntlet manifested on her arm and went in for a punch halfway before they reached her. The rainbow gem stared at her impassively and as soon as the unlucky Jasper was in arm's reach, she swung her own arm to the side and in a comical display, sent the Jasper flying into a wall, "That your best?" She challenged.

Given Naruto's combat experience, he knew he was outmatched, without access to any kind of chakra this juggernaut would likely beat him even if he tried his best to use the trench knives he now held at the ready. Before he could even voice a potential strategy to his remaining allies, they all made a move themselves, attempting to dog pile their opponent. The loose strategy didn't last as a brief rustling from the dog pile resulted in the rainbow gem throwing all of her assailants off her. Many simply turned into their gemstone, Naruto assumed this must be 'poofing', "Looks like it's just you and me, you know how to use those things Whiskers?"

"Me?" Naruto asked in a confused tone.

"Yes you, you don't even know what you look like, do you?" She asked, causing him to shake his head, "Do you know how to use them or not?"

Naruto, realising she meant the trench knives, shrugged, "Kinda…" After all, the two knives may have been quite different but it felt similar to handling a kunai.

"Well, in that case," She chuckled, "If you manage to impress me, I'll show you what you look like, sound good?"

"Sure." Naruto said, "But if we're going to continue, what's your name?"

The gem threw back her head with a brief laugh, "I like your way of thinking Whiskers, the name's Bismuth." Once she'd introduced herself, Bismuth leapt forwards with surprising speed despite her size and brought her hammers together in an attempt to crush Naruto between them. The only thing that saved the ninja-turned gem was sheer muscle memory as he jumped out of the range of the attack, "Good reaction." She commented, "Still though, I've gotta do what I've gotta do." She said, jumping forward again and going for a swing from the left hammer, which Naruto was only just able to block with a trench knife.

His speed may have been enough to keep him from taking the full brunt of the attack but Bismuth's sheer physical power overwhelmed him and sent him skidding back, then the rainbow gem began a relentless onslaught of blows, coming from a different angle with each strike from one of her hands. As before Naruto was able to attempt a parry each one, regardless, it was clear that he was fighting a losing battle.

"Come on off-colour, is that the best you can do?" Aquamarine questioned condescendingly from the sidelines.

That was it, Naruto's patience had worn thin with the wannabe fairy, "Can it, you little runt!" He roared, surprising everyone there, "In case you haven't noticed, I'm trying, I don't see you doing anything while you're sitting on your ass! And the name isn't 'off-colour', it's Naruto!" The maroon and white gems looked shocked at the Jasper's outburst, whereas the pink-haired one was smirking. Naruto's alleged superior now scowled furiously at him, a glare that he returned in a tense silence. Then it was broken by a snicker, which soon became a chuckle and finally, it became a raucous guffaw that echoed off the walls of the ravine. The source of the loud noise was none other than Bismuth.

"That," The rainbow gem managed to begin despite her hysteric laughter, "Has to be… the funniest thing I've seen and heard in a century." She continued, her hammers changing into normal hands that she promptly placed on her knees, "One of Homeworld's upper crust, gets chewed out by a Quartz who isn't even an hour old." She stated, starting off a fresh round of laughter.

All the while, Aquamarine had begun shaking out of pure rage that was building up from the humiliation she was enduring. The thought of rebel scum laughing at her, made her furious, she grabbed one end of her bow and pulled it out of her hair. Flicking it outwards, the fabric of the bow hardened into a rod-like device and took aim at the still-laughing gem. A bright blue beam of energy shot from the end she pointed at Bismuth, silencing the gem by freezing her in place, "Well then 'Naruto'," She growled, "I'm going to give you a chance at redemption, strike down the gem in front of you, poof or shatter her, I don't care just get the job done and I'll assist with the other three."

"So, this is your plan Aquamarine?" A voice asked, it seemed oddly soft-spoke, yet it carried a thinly-veiled tranquil fury that added weight to the question, "You take Bismuth, my friend hostage when you don't get a victory? What a cowardly act."

"Oh, don't blather to me about cowardice, Rose Quartz, not after inciting this rebellion when you didn't get what you wanted from Pink Diamond." Aquamarine spat venomously.

"If inciting this rebellion was done to stop Homeworld from tearing this world to pieces, then so be it." Rose countered

"Oh, doing a splendid job at that now, aren't we?" The blue gem questioned sarcastically, gesturing around her with her free hand, "Face it Rose Quartz, your rebellion is doomed, by the end of it you and your precious 'Crystal Gems' will be shattered."

"And I would sooner be shattered than let you and the Diamonds get your filthy hands on them and this planet!" She shouted, the fury she had kept bottled up coming to the surface all at once in its purest form.

"Enough with this stalling," Aquamarine said impatiently, "Jasper 10XO, destroy her!" Naruto looked between Bismuth, Rose Quartz and Aquamarine. He did this several times, Bismuth's frozen laughter, Rose Quartz's almost pleading look and Aquamarine's staunch expression. Thus, Naruto made his choice, he walked right past Bismuth and headed straight for Aquamarine.

"You're making a mistake," The winged gem stated, "Jasper 10XO, I'm warning you, continue on this path and I'll see to it personally that your gem won't even be shattered, it will be ground into dust and scattered into the farthest reaches of the galaxy." Aquamarine's threat did nothing to dissuade him as he kept moving forward, "Fine then." She stated, letting out a sigh and quickly switching the target of her tractor beam from Bismuth to Naruto, freezing him and then throwing the Jasper into the wall of the ravine. The sudden impact was enough to daze the former ninja to near the point of unconsciousness, yet he still heard his newest enemy's next utterance.

"I won't forget this Jasper 10XO, Naruto or whatever you call yourself, this is goodbye for now." Even Aquamarine realised she could not defeat four of the Crystal Gems alone. At this, she flew off, the white gem's spear began to glow as she took aim at the fleeing enemy.

"Don't," Rose commanded gently but sternly, she was answered by a questioning look, "It's more important to see to… Naruto. Plus, Aquamarine is agile, even with your aim, it's unlikely to hit her." Rose's subordinate nodded in understanding and put the spear down from its aimed position. The four of them began to converge on Naruto's position, he was still lying on the ground.

"You okay, Whiskers?" Bismuth asked, the male gem groaned in response and looked at the outstretched hand before slowly reaching out and taking it.

"Thanks," Naruto said appreciatively as the much buffer gem slowly helped him to his feet, then Bismuth's free hand began to reshape so it was thin and ovular, "What are you doing?" He asked.

"Remember my promise? You impressed me by standing up to that Aquamarine, plus you saved my gem, so I kind of owe you one." She explained, holding up her transformed hand that was now slightly reflective.

Naruto looked at the face that stared back, it was reminiscent of how he looked when he was sixteen, three dark red stripes where his whisker marks would have been and the same cerulean blue eyes. The only differences being that his hair was no longer blond and spiky and his skin, as he expected was orange.

"Pardon me," Rose Quartz spoke up, "You are a Jasper correct? Yet you call yourself another name, Naruto," She continued, taking her time to pronounce the former ninja's name, "Why is that?"

The Jasper had to think for a moment, weighing up his options on one hand revealing information about himself might make his new supposed allies trust him. On the other, would they choose not to believe him and simply brand him an off colour as Aquamarine had done?

"It's fine if you don't want to talk about why," The larger gem assured him, "I just find you very interesting is all, even for a gem who rebelled against Homeworld."

"Don't forget that this little guy," Bismuth began, giving Naruto a hearty slap on the back that nearly knocked him flat on his face, "Hasn't even been out the oven for an hour, he was made knowing Homeworld was terrible!"

"Is that a vouch for him?" Rose asked curiously, the other gem's response was to throw an arm around Naruto's shoulders.

"You know it." Bismuth responded with a grin, Naruto gave both of them a confused look.

"What do you mean?" He questioned.

"What do you think we mean?" Bismuth asked rhetorically, "We're gonna ask you if you want to join the Crystal Gems!"

"What!?" Naruto asked in surprise.

"Hold on Bismuth," Rose said, "Before we extend that offer Naruto, I must ask you one question. Why exactly did you turn on Aquamarine?"

Looking the rebel leader dead in eyes, Naruto steeled his resolve, "Let's just say that I believe when someone has something precious that they want to protect, that is when they become truly strong. That and when two warriors start exchanging blows, that's when they genuinely understand each other. When fighting Bismuth, I could feel her determination to stop Aquamarine and you wanting to keep your comrades safe, that's what I needed to convince me to make my decision."

Rose's neutral expression shifted into a smile, creating an air of understanding between the two, "Then, would you like to join us?" The pink gem questioned.

"Only if you teach me, I'm going to need some lessons." Naruto said, if he was going to be a 'gem' he would need to be taught about 'Homeworld', their intentions and perhaps most importantly, how to fight with his new weapons. Rose nodded in understanding and grinned.

"Then, I vote Naruto becomes a member of the Crystal Gems." She said.

"Seconded." Bismuth spoke up.

"I abstain," The white gem spoke up, "The name is Pearl and while I agree with your sentiments, you're going to be new to the Crystal Gems, and as a Jasper who was only recently made and has only been in the presence of gems loyal to Homeworld, I'm not sure I can trust you for the moment. However, I do trust Rose's decision." Naruto nodded in understanding at that, even if it was a little cold, he couldn't really fault Pearl for being wary of him.

"What about you Garnet?" Bismuth asked eagerly, the maroon-skinned gem who had at this point been completely silent began thinking.

"I share Pearl's caution," She finally said, "But if you show me that we can trust you, I think I can start calling you a friend." She finished, smiling kindly at Naruto.

Thus, Naruto's new life as a member of the Crystal Gems began. The former shinobi couldn't be sure why he was put here of all places but since he was it must have been for a purpose and he was sure that if he followed the Crystal Gems, that purpose would make itself known!

* * *

A/N: Hey guys, I'm here with a new project, another challenge by mellra. Before I officially wrap this up, let me just say a few things. I know that in SU, all gems are canonically female, however Naruto was born with a male build and still identifies as male anyway hence being called off-colour. As you can tell this is set after Pink Diamond was shattered, so Naruto doesn't really know about the whole conspiracy that's going on for the moment. Finally, there will be some significant changes to story.

Anyway, please review or give some constructive criticism as this is my first time writing for SU, I hope you enjoyed and with any luck I'll see you next chapter.


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